Exhibitions & Events

Phoenix Project 2022: Continuing the Dialogue from 1992

April 22, 2022 – May 20, 2022 Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles

Lili Bernard. Her Granddaughter Her Son, 2022. Oil on Canvas, 48 inches x 48 inches

Lili Bernard. Her Granddaughter Her Son, 2022. Oil on Canvas, 48 inches x 48 inches

Spectrum News Coverage on Show, May 9, 2022

ABC News Coverage on Show, May 7, 2022 

The Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles (KCCLA), in partnership with Black Artists in Los Angeles (BAILA), and the Korean Artists Association of Southern California (KAASC), proudly presented the Special Exhibition “The Phoenix Project: Continuing the Dialogue from 1992” which took place from April 22nd to May 20th at the Korean Cultural Center Art Gallery, located at 5505 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036. The performing artists Yeonwoon Seo & Choon Hee Park are partnering with H.E.Z.Y created a special performance for the exhibition’s opening reception.

Performing Artists

Yeonwoon Seo: Singer / Choon Hee Park: Drummer / H.E.Z.Y (aka Elias Ferguson): Rapper & Actor, pictured below, performed at the opening reception.

Click here to view video of opening reception performance

The exhibition focused on continuing the dialogue between African American and Korean American artists related to the 1992 civil unrest in Los Angeles. Although they have experienced hardship and turbulence, through this collaborative exhibition, it is hoped that these two communities will continue to bridge the gaps that have divided them. Furthermore, this exhibition served as an opportunity to create cultural unity and deepen our understanding of each other, as artists and as people.

THE CURATORS: Left to right: Lili Bernard, Tammy Cho, Min Cho and Mark Steven Greenfield. Not pictured: Chungmee Lee

The exhibition presented the individual artworks of 15 Korean American and 15 African American artists which collectively commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Los Angles uprising “4.29” (called Saigu in Korean). Along with 30 individual artworks, a collaborative mosaic piece, comprised of works by 15 artists from both communities is on display at the KCCLA indefinitely.

A wide range of media was presented, including paintings, sculptures, photography, ceramics, and other various mixed-media installations. The “Collaboration mosaic” piece is designed to promote mutual understanding, dialogue, and communication between the artists and by extension, their respective communities.

This exhibition was organized by the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles (KCCLA), Black Artists in Los Angeles (BAILA), and the Korean Artists Association of Southern California (KAASC), and curated by Mark Steven Greenfield, Chungmee Lee, Lili Bernard, Yun J Choi, Min Cho, and Tammy Cho.

Participating 60 Artists

Moses X. Ball / April Banks / Chelle Barbour / Sharon Barnes / Lili Bernard / Mark Broyard / Steven J. Brooks / Yrneh Gabon / Lavialle Campbell / Jane Chang / Jason Sahan Chang / Hyunsook Cho / Min Cho / Yun J. Choi / Kenturah Davis / Adrienne DeVine / Ingrid Elburg / Isaiah Ferguson / Mark Steven Greenfield / Okka Han / Zeal Harris / Han Na Hong (H.RED) / Marlon Ivory / David B. Jang / Miyoung Jeon / Eunsil Jeoung / In-ok Jeong / Buena Johnson / Sunhee Joo / Jessi Jumanji / Jongmoo Jun / Jinsil Kim / Somoon Kim / Sungil Kim /Yoonchung Park Kim / Yong Sik Kim / Chungmee Lee / Nakyung Lee / Robert Lee / Sam Sanghoon Lee / Talita Long / Michael Massenburg / Rosalind McGary / Rosalyn Myles / Dominique Moody / Kyoung Namkung / Ji Oh / Michelle Oh / Hairan Paik / Heysook Park / Swan Park / Duane Paul / Amber Perry / Alison Saar / Toni Scott / Esther Shim / Lisa Diane Wedgeworth / Wendell Wiggins / Stanley C. Wilson / Vincent Minsook Yang

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CALARTS LATINFEST 2021 Logo

Please join us this Sunday, February 28, at 2pm as CalArts LatinFest 2021 presents me in a talk, slideshow and Q&A about my art and life relative to being an Afro-LatinX creative. The event is free and open to the public. You can join us via the Zoom link in the event page linked below.

https://www.latinartsfest.com/lili-bernard/

Lili Bernard CalArts 2021 web

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2020 Vision: Prophecy Manifested, a Mujeres de Maíz Group Art Exhibition

March 7, 2020 – April 3, 2020 – Self Help Graphics,1300 East 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033

Lili Bernard and her two paintings on exhibit at Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, June 2020 for the Mujeres de Maíz group art show, 2020 Vision: Prophecy Manifested

Lili Bernard and her two paintings on exhibit at Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, June 2020, for the Mujeres de Maíz group art show, 2020 Vision: Prophecy Manifested

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stARTup Art Fair LA 2020

Lili Bernard: Orishas and Saints Through Afro-Cuban American Eyes
Solo Art Show, Performance and Panel Discussion

Press: Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Artillery, Argonaut

Lili Bernard. Orisha Chart One, 2019. Acrylic, Rope, Clay, Metal, Wood, Straw, Plastic, Toys, Candy, Beads, Faux Jewelry and Digital Photos on Canvas, 30x36

Lili Bernard. Orisha Chart One, 2019. Acrylic, Rope, Clay, Metal, Wood, Straw, Plastic, Toys, Candy, Beads, Faux Jewelry and Digital Photos on Canvas, 30×36

stARTup Art Fair Los Angeles, 2020
Friday February 14, 6–10 pm
Saturday February 15, 12–9 pm
Sunday February 16, 12–7 pm (performance and panel discussion this day at 2pm)

THE KINNEY
737 West Washington Blvd
Venice, CA 90292

PERFORMANCE and RELATED PANEL DISCUSSION
Sunday, April 16, 2pm-3:30pm

Performance: Carlota and the Other Harriet
Featuring Lili Bernard, Caroline Heldman, Isaiah Ferguson and siblings

Carlota Lucumí (died March 1844) was an enslaved Yoruba woman in Cuba who survived the Middle Passage as a child and was a leader in the Matanzas, Cuba slave rebellion of 1843.  Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) was an American author, abolitionist and fugitive slave who wrote the autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, published in 1861

Panel Discussion: #MeToo in the Generations (immediately following performance)

An art and #metoo conversation between the feminist artist-activists, Lili Bernard, Zeal Harris and Caroline Heldman. The talk will explore, through the lens of art and activism, the roles that ingenuity, performance, resilience and sisterhood play in the survival of the sexual attack on womanhood, from antebellum slavery through today’s #MeToo movement.

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What She Said
a group art exhibition organized by the Association of Hysteric Curators

Opening Reception: Friday, Jan 17, 2020 at 7pm-9pm
show runs through March 13, 2020

ACE/121 Gallery
121 N. Kenwood
Glendale, CA 91206

My artwork in the group exhibition, What She Said at Ace/121 Gallery in Glendale, CA:

Web - Lili Bernard. La Orisha Yemayá y La Virgen de Regla con Nina Simone and the Daughter, Zion, Whom I Didn’t Know I would Birth 16 Years Later, 2019. Oil on Canvas

Lili Bernard. La Orisha Yemayá y La Virgen de Regla con Nina Simone and the Daughter, Zion, Whom I Didn’t Know I would Birth 16 Years Later, Intercede. Oil on Canvas, 24”x24”

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VIVA La VULVA
a group art exhibition

Jan 15 – Jan 19, 2020

111 Minna Gallery
111 Minna Street
San Francisco, CA 95105M

My artwork in the upcoming group exhibition Viva La Vulva at 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco

Lili Bernard. Ochun as My Bisabuela Clemencia Falls to Her Death, 2018. Oil on Canvas, 48"x36"

Lili Bernard. Ochun as My Bisabuela Clemencia Falls to Her Death, 2018. Oil on Canvas, 48″x36″

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DONATE to LILI BERNARD ART STUDIO

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The Wrap, Oct 2019

The Wrap

Mira Sorvino, Lili Bernard Lead Tribute to R. Kelly Survivors: ‘These Women Are Brave, They are Warriors’

Power Women Summit 2019: Six women who were victimized by the R&B singer spoke about how life changed after breaking their silence

Last Updated: October 25, 2019 @ 12:35 PM

Goddesses & Gods Art Exhibition
June 22 – July 20, 2019
Coagula Curatorial & Lisa Derrick Fine Arts Los Angeles

This work was in the exhibit and is still currently on display at Lisa Derrick Fine Arts:

Lili Bernard. Beware of Boogiemen Disguises as Deity, 2019. On exhibit at Coagula Curatorial Gallery, Los Angeles, through July 20, 2019

Lili Bernard. Beware of Boogiemen Disguises as Deity, 2019. On exhibit at Coagula Curatorial Gallery, Los Angeles, through July 20, 2019

Lili Bernard. Beware of Boogiemen Disguised as Deity, 2019. Mixed Media, 76 inches x 36 inches

Lili Bernard. Beware of Boogiemen Disguised as Deity, 2019. Acrylic, chrome metal, changing-color flashing led lights, flashing police light, plastic, faux jewelry, sequin, digital photos, pom-pom balls and ink on canvas and wood panel, 76”x36”

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Buzz Feed, June 2019

Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Bill Cosby: Beware Of Boogie Men Disguised As Deity

An art exhibition in Los Angeles’ Chinatown is stirring up online controversy over one artist’s depiction of three of America’s most famous celebrity rapists as false gods. The show, “Goddesses & Gods” opens Saturday, June 22 at 6pm at Coagula Curatorial and Lisa Derrick Fine Arts.

Posted on 

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Some Blakkity Black Stuff
a Kamikaze Group Art Exhibition Curated by Zeal Harris
MiM Art Gallery Los Angeles, July 5, 2019

Lili Bernard. Eleguas Phallus, 2019. Acrylic Paint, Cowrie Shells, Twine and Pipe Cleaners on Wood, 34 inches x 9 inches x 6 inches

Lili Bernard beside new artwork: Elegua’s Phallus, 2019. Acrylic Paint, Cowrie Shells, Twine and Pipe Cleaners on Wood, 34 inches x 9 inches x 6 inches

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Donning and Dismissal of the Conqueror’s Coiffure
a performance by Lili Bernard and Children

Care Critique Complicity Performance Art Exhibition
at Contemporary Irish Art Institute Los Angeles
Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA

June 16, 2019

Lili Bernard. Donning and Dismissal of the Conqueror’s Coiffure, 2019. Contemporary Irish Arts Center Los Angeles

Lili Bernard. Donning and Dismissal of the Conqueror’s Coiffure, 2019. Contemporary Irish Arts Center Los Angeles Photo by Allison Stewart

Lili Bernard. Donning and Dismissal of the Conqueror’s Coiffure, 2019. Contemporary Irish Arts Center Los Angeles

Lili Bernard. Donning and Dismissal of the Conqueror’s Coiffure, 2019. Contemporary Irish Arts Center Los Angeles Photo by Allison Stewart

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The Pussy Grabber Plays. May 11, 2019, Thymele Arts in East Hollywood. I played the role of Karena, inspired by Trump truth-teller, Karena Virginia. My fellow Cosby survivor-sister, Victoria Valentino, played my mother. We were directed by Virginia Watson. 

Lili Bernard as Karena in The Pussy Grabber Plays, Los Angeles 2019

Lili Bernard as Karena in The Pussy Grabber Plays, Los Angeles, with cast & crew at rehearsal, May 5, 2019.

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Viva La Vulva Art Exhibition, Band of Vices Art Gallery, November 4, 2018

Lili Bernard, Panelist in Viva La Vulva Art Exhibition and Discussion on Women’s Health and Sexuality, Organized and Moderated by Dr. Cara Quant for the Pembroke Taparelli Art and Film Festival, November 4, 2018.

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LILI BERNARD in ARTBOUND ARTICLE – APRIL 2018

Lili Artbound

Life Lessons: Motherhood and Art 

Lili Bernard

“Being a mom turned me into an octopus,” says artist Lili Bernard who is the mother of five boys and one girl ranging in age from nine years old though college. “I am known for having my kids with me at my art shows.”

The Artist Lili Bernard & Her 6 Children, March 2018, Los Angeles, CA

The Artist Lili Bernard With Her 6 Children, March 2018, Los Angeles, CA, Courtesy of the Artist

Bernard’s work is colorful and deeply emotional. It reflects the many themes she explores in her art and life from motherhood to racism and sexism. She is the founder of BAILA (Black Artists in Los Angeles, an organized group that she formed to advocate to advance the careers of black artists.

“Carlota Leading the People” | Lili Bernard
Carlota Leading the People, Oil on Canvas, 72”x60″ © 2011 by Lili Bernard

Carlota Leading the People, Oil on Canvas, 72”x60″ © 2011 by Lili Bernard

Bernard believes all six of her children inherited art making abilities from her, as she feels she did from her dad and grandfather. Her son Isaiah Ferguson is an animator had been getting attention for his animated films including being invited to meet President Obama at the White House Student Film Festival. “His work is so beautiful. I am so proud of him.  All of my children are my best teachers. They are mirrors.  My kids’ art is so pure and whole,” says Bernard.

Visions of pregnant women are a frequent motif in Bernard’s work. “What I am trying to show in my paintings of pregnant women is that being pregnant is not a handicap, it is just a different state of being where you can be just as prolific and powerful and industrious. I have known many women who work right up to giving birth,” says Bernard.

Bernard’s kids are also known to help in the studio and inspire their prolific mother. “My kids help me make my art. Help me glue things down when I am making mixed media pieces,” says Bernard. “They are also my best critics. They have a great eye and give me honest straight from the hip responses.”

At her recent exhibition, “Antebellum Appropriations” at MoAD in San Francisco, Bernard showed her detailed muralistic visions that re-imagined classical European paintings into slave narratives. “I believe that part of the reason why I am such a prolific artist is because of my children,” says Bernard. “They inspire me towards creativity. I also want to leave a legacy behind so that when I pass, they will have a good collection of my work to make some money.”

Giving birth six times has deepened Bernard’s commitment to living life with a feminist perspective. “I have always viewed pregnancy and childbirth as one of the most feminist expressions,” says Bernard. “You are bringing into this world, life. You have the opportunity through the rearing of your children to raise feminists, even a greater accomplishment when your child is a male.”

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DONATE to LILI BERNARD ART STUDIO

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GROUP EXHIBITION, Viva La Vulva, Ren Gallery, 743 S. Santee St. Unit B, Los Angeles, CA 90014. Show ran through April, 21, 2018. Curator: Gallerist Rene Warren. Artists: Leslie Reed, Lili Bernard, Joanna Cassidy, Edvarda Braanaas, Tanya Ragir, Karen Petty, Aurélia Bizouard and Amanda Sage

Excerpt from Recent Review on Show in Artillery Magazine:

Artillery

VIVA LA VULVA

Group Show at REN Gallery

Sounding heavy, presented by artists Leslie Reed, Lili Bernard, Joanna Cassidy, Edvarda Braanaas, Tanya Ragir, Karen Petty, Aurélia Bizouard and Amanda Sage honored physiological processes women experience, the mythological narratives that capture histories and the ineviablity of physical and emotional decay. We were greeted with the feminine spirit at the gallery entrance by Bernard with her live painting, Ochun as My Bisabuela Clemencia Falls to Her Death, portraying indigenous Afro-Cuban folklore of the deity Oshun.

(Photo featured in Artillery Magazine review of my work-in-progress, live-painting during opening.)

Lili_Bernard_in_front_of_her_in_session_painting

My other painting in the show:

The Sale of Venus (after Sandro Botecelli’s The Birth of Venus, 1486), Oil on Canvas, 96”x72” © 2011by Lili Bernard

Lili Bernard.  The Sale of Venus (after Sandro Botecelli’s The Birth of Venus, 1486), 2011.  Oil on Canvas, 63”x96”

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OTHER RECENT GROUP EXHIBITIONS: Black Dreams Matter, curated by gallerist Lisa Schultz, at Whole 9 Gallery, 3830 Main Street, Culver City, CA 90232. Show runs through April 3, 2018. This is my work in the show:

Lili Bernard. Self-Portrait in Straightjacket with Black Panthers Assata Shakur as Oya-Yansa and Kathleen Cleaver as La Virgen de La Candelaria, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 48″x36″

Lili Bernard. Self-Portrait in Straightjacket with Black Panthers Assata Shakur as Oya-Yansa and Kathleen Cleaver as La Virgen de La Candelaria, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 48″x36″

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OTHER RECENT GROUP EXHIBITION: Creative Souls, Watts Towers Arts Center, 1727 East 107th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90002. Curated by Paul Von Blum in celebration of his recently published book of the same title.

Creative souls

My work in the show:

Detail of Ain’t Funny Crucifix 96″x72″x36″, Purple Sugar Cane, Conga Drum, Nails, Rope, Acrylic Paint, Watermelon Seeds, Digital Photograph © 2014 by Lili Bernard

Lili Bernard. Ain’t Funny Crucifix, 2014. 96″x72″x36″, Purple Sugar Cane, Conga Drum, Nails, Rope, Acrylic Paint, Watermelon Seeds, Digital Photograph, 96"x72"x36"

Self Portrait, Mixed Media, 36"x30"x9" © 2012 by Lili Bernard, Available for purchase

Lili Bernard. Self Portrait Tortured, 2012. Wood, rope, canvas, paint bush, metal screw, acrylic paint, 31″x28″x5″

Lili Bernard. Maceo y Martí: La Mejorana, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 28" x 44"

Lili Bernard. Maceo y Martí: La Mejorana, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 28″ x 44″

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REVIEW on my new painting, BALSEROS, in recent group art exhibition:

South of the Border, a PST Getty Initiative group art show on the topic of immigration. At Loft at Liz’s through February 1, 2018. Curated by Isabel Rojos-Williams.

Art & Cake Logo

Ten Artists Look South of the Border at Loft at Liz’s

December 7, 2017

Author Genie Davis

Detail of Lili Bernard. Aché Balseros, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 36″x60″

Detail of Lili Bernard. Aché Balseros, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 36″x60″ South of the Border at Loft at Liz’s

One powerful piece, Ache Balseros,” comes from artist Lili Bernard. The encompassing oil on canvas work depicts the raft crisis of 1994, when Castro allowed residents of Cuba to leave the island. Cuba was Bernard’s birthplace. “As usual, I’ve codified the painting with symbolism pertaining to the OrishasYoruba deity,” Bernard relates. “Some fellow Cuban immigrants who were at the opening told me that they cried when they saw my painting. I cried too as I was making it. Though my family’s departure from the island was dramatic, we left when I was a toddler, we did not leave by raft; we left by plane.” But, she adds “I do however know some fellow Cubans who left the island by raft – they call these people Balseros. They told me how they were literally fighting, punching sharks on the way. Many Balseros suffered dehydration and become delirious and sick from it. Many died from it, got lost or eaten by sharks. Several Balseros with whom I’ve spoken about surviving the trip, speak of the important role that the Orishas played in their survival – hence the homage to the Orishas in my painting.” Vibrant and packed with images that really require repeated viewings to absorb, the work is a passionate tribute to an event, a people, and a spiritual practice. Was such a fraught journey worth the destination?

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REVIEW of my multimedia artwork, Self Portrait as Yemayá Under Attack, in recent group exhibition:

DIVERSIONS LA

Static Clears the Air at Durden and Ray

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Diversions LA

by Genie Davis

Lili Bernard. Self Portrait as Yemaya Under Attack, 2017. Sequin, Acrylic Paint, Photographs, Pills, Glitter, Nylon Afro-Wig, Ribbon, Pipe Cleaners, Cork, False Eyelashes, Plastic Eyes and Costume Jewelry on Canvas, 48"x36"

Lili Bernard. Self Portrait as Yemaya Under Attack, 2017. Sequin, Acrylic Paint, Photographs, Pills, Glitter, Nylon Afro-Wig, Ribbon, Pipe Cleaners, Cork, False Eyelashes, Plastic Eyes and Costume Jewelry on Canvas, 48″x36″

Artists and Journalists exhibiting include: Lili Bernard, Jennifer Celio, Molly Crabapple, Dani Dodge, Jose Galvez, Emily Goulding, Kio Griffith, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Danial Nord, Sean Noyce, Max Presneill, Walter Robinson, Steven Wolkoff, and Samira Yamin.

Below, the lush, passionate self-portrait in mixed media by Lili Bernard. “Self Portrait as Yemaya Under Attack” uses sequins, acrylic paint, photos, pills, glitter, a section of nylon Afro-wig, ribbon, pipe cleaners, and costume jewelry among other mediums on canvas. Beset on all sides, the titular character may be slightly bowed, but she is unbroken. A gorgeous, powerful, commentary that takes on the voraciousness of our culture – and our news cycle.

Lili Bernard. Self Portrait as Yemaya Under Attack, 2017. Sequin, Acrylic Paint, Photographs, Pills, Glitter, Nylon Afro-Wig, Ribbon, Pipe Cleaners, Cork, False Eyelashes, Plastic Eyes and Costume Jewelry on Canvas, 48″x36″

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NEW ARTWORK:

Lili Bernard. Maceo y Martí: La Mejorana, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 28″ x 44″

Lili Bernard. Maceo y Martí: La Mejorana, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 28″ x 44″ Available for Purchase

Lili Bernard. Calle en Santiago De Cuba con Elegua, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 24"x30" Available for Purchase

Lili Bernard. Calle en Santiago De Cuba con Elegua, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 24″x30″ Available for Purchase

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RECENT GROUP EXHIBITION:

South of the Border, a PST Getty Initiative group art show on the topic of immigration. At Loft at Liz’s through February 1, 2018. Curated by Isabel Rojos-Williams.  Featured artwork by the following 10 Latino/Latina artists: (alphabetically): Lili Bernard, Marisa Caichiolo, Pablo Cristi, Joel García, Maja, Poli Marichal, Andres Montoya, Sandy Rodriguez, and Votan.

The Loft at Liz’s
453 S. La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 939-4403 ext. 5
Open Monday – Saturday 10am to 6pm

Los Angeles Times: One of Four must-see art shows that speak to the anxiety triggered by Trump’s DACA reversal

My artwork in the show:

Lili Bernard. Aché Balseros, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 36"x60"

Lili Bernard. Aché Balseros, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 36″x60″ Available for Purchase

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REVIEW ON MY 2017 SOLO EXHIBITION at MUSEUM of the AFRICAN DIASPORA (MoAD):

Write-up in SF Weekly by art critic Jonathan Curiel on my recent museum solo art exhibit, Antebellum Appropriations, at Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, which ran from April 29 – June 25, 2017.

The plight of being an African American woman is the shared thread in the group show SWEET STICKY THINGS currently on view at LaunchLA gallery thru May 6. Lili Bernard, Zeal Harris and Loren Holland have distinct styles and conceptual concerns but share a compassion for and commiseration with what America sees as a second-class race and gender. Each artist, though, exalts the black female amidst these trials and tribulations, making SWEET STICKY THINGS part celebration, part verification.

The exhibit is more a showcase for each of the participants than it is a truly meshed group show. The artists have their own defined spaces in the gallery with no cross-pollination of sorts. The title of the show comes from Sweet Sticky Thing, a song by the 1970s funk group The Ohio Players. Famous for their music, a close second for the group was their infamous suggestive and erotic album covers. No trip to the record store was complete for young men of all ages without a perusal of the Ohio Players albums section. The show offers three different takes on femininity thru an African American point of reference.

SWEET

Lauren Holland inserts black women in all their SWEET beauty and glory into landscapes that give a conceptual tweak to the Western (colonial) canon. One painting, The Bathers, takes its name from the four Cezanne masterpieces investigating that theme of nude women, isolated in a lake of pastoral splendor. Holland’s vision of the bathing beauties brings in a sad reality. Not only is there a voyeur in the shadows, but discarded binoculars indicate others have been gazing before. Amidst some detritus at the watering hole floats a Greek urn, reminding us that the cradle of the West based its culture heavily on the then long-established African culture. Just beneath the veneer of sweet figurative beauty, Holland challenges centuries of the dominance of the Eurocentric definition of beauty in her oil paintings that show the sweet gorgeousness of black women despite their vulnerability in the culture.

STICKY

Lili Bernard infuses a STICKY combination of spirituality and satire into her offerings here (full disclosure: I have curated this artist into commerical shows). She is known widely for her paintings of Orishas, the saint-like pre-Christian gods worshipped in the Caribbean by African slaves. She expands on that theme with inventive sculptural altars to hair salons as well as a satirical advertisement for Orishas as natural hair products. But her calling card will always be her fantastic oils and she does not disappoint. This artist paints the battle for souls as a pictorial wrestling between a dragon and a saint in one picture. But the most moving image in the show is her portrait of Latasha Harlins as an Orisha. At the top of her halo is her name and the artist has lettered in “Say Her Name” at the bottom. Harlins was murdered by a convenience store cashier in 1991. In this painting she holds the bottle of orange juice the cashier insisted she was stealing. She gave her life for that orange juice and she carries it into eternity here.

THINGS

Zeal Harris reminds us that there are THINGS with which African Americans must deal. Things that are best called burdens. Her outsider-styled drawings are belied by the sophisticated compositional rhythm of text passages woven throughout many of the works in this show. Digitally printed on a silk-like material, they tell dramatic stories of police shootings, relationship hurdles, and pining for a better world, all made more emotional by the mundane nature of these tragedies. That they appear to be so ordinary is what makes the subjects of Zeal’s stories so gripping. When the girlfriend tells her man the positives of them moving for a better job, he retorts “What’s the money gonna mean in Redneck, Arizona if you’re Sandra Bland and I’m El Chapo”. A man leaves his lover’s side not when it is time to go but when he is least likely to be pulled over. The artist “gets real” but on silk the work has a glistening presence – are these artworks also handkerchiefs in which to cry?

Most gallery exhibits have a homogenous quality passed off as an aesthetic. SWEET STICKY THINGS is a bold show about excess, about the diversity within a community, about belief, gender, and experience. Narrative painting too often seeks to spoon-feed viewers in the quest for a wider audience. These three artists give aesthetic investigation as much precedence as they do in elucidating their conceptual narratives. There is an inspiration in this show for a wider range of artists than just the storytellers.

SWEET STICKY THINGS continues at the LaunchLA Gallery thru May 6. Gallery is open TUE-SAT 12-6 PM – located at 170 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, California 90036.

An Artists Talk featuring all three artists and moderated by Naima Keith, California African American Museum deputy director of exhibits and programs is Saturday, April 15 at 4 PM, free admission.

COURTESY LAUNCH LA & LILI BERNARD: Lili Bernard “Latasha Harlins en El Cielo con Las 7 Potencias Africanas”, 2017. Oil, Acrylic, Metal Chain, Glitter, Plastic Eyeballs, Styrofoam, Plastic Angel, Faux Jewels on canvas. Available for Purchase

COURTESY LAUNCH LA & ZEAL HARRIS: Zeal Harris “Sandra Bland & El Chapo” dye sublimation on fabric. 2017

COURTESY LAUNCH LA & LOREN HOLLAND: Loren Holland “The Bathers”, Oil on Canvas Triptych. 2016

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REVIEWS OF RECENT GROUP ART EXHIBITIONS

Hyperallergic

Iconic Black Panther, Gregorio Escalante Gallery, Los Angeles, through May 14, 2017 – Hyperallergic Article

My work in the show:

Lili Bernard. Self-Portrait in Straight Jacket with Assata Shakur as Oya-Yansa and Kathleen Cleaver as La Virgen de La Candelaria, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 48"x36"

Lili Bernard. Self-Portrait in Straight Jacket with Black Panthers Assata Shakur as Oya-Yansa and Kathleen Cleaver as La Virgen de La Candelaria, 2017. Oil on Canvas, 48″x36″ Available for Purchase

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sentinel

ReImagine Justice, Community Coalition Gallery, Los Angeles, through April 29, 2017 – Sentinel Newspaper Article

Lili Bernard. Latasha Harlins y Las 7 Potencias Africans - Kaleidoscope Tribute to the Harlins Family, 2017. Acrylic Paint, Photos, Costume Jewels, Plastic Eyes and Glitter, 20"x20"

Lili Bernard. Latasha Harlins y Las 7 Potencias Africans – Kaleidoscope Tribute to the Harlins Family, 2017. Acrylic Paint, Photos, Costume Jewels, Plastic Eyes and Glitter, 20″x20″ Sold. Collection of Community Coalition

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Lili Bernard Artwork Sold to collector Judy Bowen at Walter Maciel Gallery’s With Justice and Liberty for Some exhibition, January 7 – March 4, 2017, Los Angeles, CA

Lili Bernard. Trump Trigger Warning One, 2017. Acrylic Paint, Photos, Costume Jewels, and Wooden Toothpicks on Canvas.

Lili Bernard. Trump Trigger Warning One, 2017. Acrylic Paint, Photos, Costume Jewels, and Wooden Toothpicks on Canvas, 8″x8.” Sold. Collection of Judy Bowen.

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Lili Bernard Painting Sold for the Highest Bid at Windows Between Worlds Art Auction/Exhibition, Artworks for Healing, March 2, 2017, Santa Monica, CA

Lili Bernard, Guest Speaker, Window Between Worlds Artworks for Healing Exhibition/Auction March 2, 2017

Lili Bernard, Guest Speaker, Window Between Worlds Artworks for Healing Exhibition/Auction March 2, 2017

Lili Bernard.  Self Portrait in Pallet Knife, Red Mouth, 2010. Oil on Canvas, 30”x24″ Sold

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LILI BERNARD featured in ARTnews Magazine July 2016

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L.A. HABITAT: LILI BERNARD

LILI BERNARD Interviewed on Modern Art Blitz – Host Art Critic Mat Gleason – June 6, 2016

ARTnews Magazine Spring 2016 Icons Issue

ARTnews0SmallFirst printed in 1902, the progressive ARTnews Magazine is “the oldest and most widely-circulated art magazine in the world.”  I’m currently featured in their Spring 2016 “Icons Issue,” which is available for purchase on the magazine stands for $8. There are 5 icons in the cover-feature: Mary Heilmann, Faith Ringgold, Kerry James Marshal, Kenneth Anger and Lynda Benglis.  I’m one of 16 Los Angeles-based artists featured in this issue in the article by editor-writer-photographgher, Katherine McMahon, entitled Habitat: LA.  The 16 featured L.A. artists are myself, David Hockney, Ed Ruscha, Catherine Opie, Diana Thater, Mary Weatherford, Jim Shaw, Henry Taylor, Thomas Houseago, Kaar Upson, Liz Larner, Amanda Ross-Ho, Enrique Martinez Celaya, Samara Golden, Lara Schnitger and Elad Lassry. Scroll down for an ARTnews.com online preview.

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Habitat: Los Angeles

By Posted 02/23/16 1:19 pm

Visits to the studios of 16 artists over the next 16 weeks

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The opening layout of Habitat L.A. from the Spring 2016 issue of ARTnews. Clockwise from top left: David Hockney and his studio, Diana Thater and her studio, Ed Ruscha and his studio, Catherine Opie and her studio.

Los Angeles is all the rage at the moment. Last September, megacollector Eli Broad opened his $140 million private museum on Grand Avenue; the shiny Diller Scofidio + Renfro building is open free of charge and has had lines around the block. That same month, New York’s Maccarone gallery inaugurated a big space near L.A.’s downtown arts district with a show of Alex Hubbard. Berlin and London’s Sprüth Magers is expanding to Wilshire Boulevard, across from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. And March brings the big kahuna: Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, a new branch of the London-, Somerset-, New York­­-, and Zurich-based Hauser & Wirth gallery, will open downtown in a converted flour mill. At 100,000 square feet, it’s on the scale of a museum.

For our Icons issue, we took a look at L.A., that iconic American city, through the lens of some of its many artists’ studios, visiting 16 people of different generations. Over the next 16 weeks, each of those studios will be featured on the site—one per week. Below, a photo preview of what is to come, and below that, the complete lineup of artists.

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A layout of Habitat L.A. from the Spring 2016 issue of ARTnews. Clockwise from top left: Mary Weatherford in her studio, Thomas Houseago in his studio, Henry Taylor and his studio, Jim Shaw and his studio.

A layout of Habitat L.A. from the Spring 2016 issue of ARTnews. Clockwise from top left: Kaari Upson and her studio, Amanda Ross-Ho in her studio, Enrique Martinez Celaya and his studio, Liz Larner in her studio.

A layout of Habitat L.A. from the Spring 2016 issue of ARTnews. Clockwise from top left: Kaari Upson and her studio, Amanda Ross-Ho in her studio, Enrique Martinez Celaya and his studio, Liz Larner in her studio.

A layout of Habitat L.A. from the Spring 2016 issue of ARTnews. Clockwise from top left: Lili Bernard in her studio, Lara Schnitger in her studio, Elad Lassry and his studio, Samara Golden and her studio.

A layout of Habitat L.A. from the Spring 2016 issue of ARTnews. Clockwise from top left: Lili Bernard in her studio, Lara Schnitger in her studio, Elad Lassry and his studio, Samara Golden and her studio.

The artists:

  • Lili Bernard
  • Samara Golden
  • David Hockney
  • Thomas Houseago
  • Liz Larner
  • Elad Lassry
  • Enrique Martinez Celaya
  • Catherine Opie
  • Amanda Ross-Ho
  • Ed Ruscha
  • Lara Schnitger
  • Jim Shaw
  • Henry Taylor
  • Diana Thater
  • Kaari Upson
  • Mary Weatherford
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Coagula Art Journal May 2016 Issue

Eric Minh Swenson’s Art World Year Book of Art World All Stars

 “Lili Bernard: A survivor, an activist, but most importantly, an artist. Lili Bernard paints elegant, sumptuous scenes of the uttermost cruelty in relating slave stories, Orishas and epic tales of bloodlust, revenge, and finally, redemption. Most importantly, redemption”

 — MATT GLEASON, art critic/Coagula Art Journal Editor

Coagula Curatorial, May 2016 Issue: Eric Minh Swenson's Art World Yearbook

Coagula Art Journal, May 2016 Issue: Eric Minh Swenson’s Art World Yearbook

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New York Times Winners of Pictures of Year International

March 1, 2016

Lili Bernard says she was assaulted by Bill Cosby in the early 1990s.
Community Awareness Award, Judges’ Special Recognition.
Credit: Amanda Demme/New York Magazine

Lili Bernard says she was assaulted by Bill Cosby in the early 1990s. Community Awareness Award, Judges’ Special Recognition. Credit: Amanda Demme/New York Magazine : Winners of Pictures of the Year International

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Image result for kcet artbound
March 31, 2015
Carlota Leading the People, Oil on Canvas, 72”x60″ © 2011 by Lili Bernard

Carlota Leading the People, Oil on Canvas, 72”x60″ © 2011 by Lili Bernard

“Oshun Altar-Hair Salon” by Lili Bernard pops out from against a wall inside L.A. Artcore, where it is on view until April 5 for “Pulse of L.A.,” a juried show featuring 23 female artists. The bright yellow table is decked out with crosses and beads, shells and baubles. There’s a prayer candle under the table. A mirror, comb and hairdryer hang from the side. Above it is a poster made to look like an ad for the latest hair product, boasting slogans like “Get your sweat on!” and “Racial Self-Hatred get thee gone!” In the center of the poster, Bernard poses with her daughter in a photo taken by artist Toni Scott. Both mother and daughter wear their hair in a natural style.

The altar is part of a bigger series called “Donning and Dismissal of the Conqueror’s Coiffure.” When presented in full, there are multiple altars that bring together Afro-Cuban religious traditions with elements of the hair salon. The series also includes a performance piece, where women wet their hair — “like a Baptism,” Bernard explains — to reveal their natural curls.

“There’s a lot of trauma for black women with regard to their hair,” says Bernard inside her home studio. She talks about the physical pain that can be caused by straightening hair, using chemicals that burn or wearing weaves that are tightly sewn in with natural hair. She also talks about the emotional trauma that comes with hair, the taunts that children have faced because of the smell of hair relaxing products or because a swim in a pool revealed one’s hair texture. She speaks personally about family pressure regarding her own hair, mentioning the criticism she received from her parents when she visited them with a natural hairstyle. “There’s so much tremendous pressure from the family, the black family, to try and make you look white,” she says.

Lili Ochun Altar-Salon

Trauma is central to Bernard’s work. The Los Angeles-based artist, who was born in Cuba and was raised primarily in New Jersey, delves into trauma experienced by African people brought to the New World as slaves and the scars that exist many generations later. She explores traumas experienced by women, whether it’s the struggle to attain a beauty ideal to the pain of sexual assault. Bernard’s work is boldly feminist and as universal in its themes as it is personal.

In her “Antebellum Appropriations” series, Bernard references the great paintings of Europe’s art history as she builds a narrative of slavery and abuse. The project started with her participation in the “Tel-Art-Phone” show that Coagula Curatorial’s Mat Gleason curated at Beacon Arts in 2011. The event was modeled after the game Telephone, where each artist riffs on one who immediately preceded him or her. Bernard followed Coop and was inspired by his pin-up-style piece to reference Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus.” She created “The Sale of Venus,” with a pregnant woman on an auction block, clearly suffering from trauma. Bernard decided to keep going with the theme after the show. She followed “The Sale of Venus” with “Carlota Leading the People,” based on Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People. The piece depicts the story of a woman who led a slave revolt in Cuba and was ultimately executed. Bernard notes the horses in a corner of the painting — “they dragged and quartered her to death,” she explains. [image: “Oshun Altar-Hair Salon” by Lili Bernard]

In remaining famed works, Bernard comments on what’s missing in art history. “They’re very beautiful, very serene, but what’s omitted from that narrative is the institution that sustained that life, which is slavery,” she says. “Even if they were in Europe, the Kings and Queens were still being sustained by the slavery that was going on in the New World.” She continues,” I thought that by appropriating these European paintings into slave stories, I was kind of owning the story and positioning myself, or positioning the story of my ancestors into the halls of art history.”

Yet, there is more to the story. In “Caroline,” based on Manet’s “Olympia,” Bernard depicts rape, with Caroline representing her great-grandmother and the perpetrator representing her great-grandfather. Then there is “Carlota Slaying the Slaver,” which pays homage to Artimesia Gentilesch painting “Judith Slaying Holofernes.” In it, women are depicted mutilating their rapist.

As Gentilesch’s painting is said to be inspired by the artist’s own experience, so is Bernard’s work. Only recently has she been able to talk about the autobiographical aspects of the “Antebellum Appropriations” paintings. She points to some of the details, metaphors that reflect her own experience, like the silencing of women in the paintings.

The Sale of Venus, Oil on Canvas, 96”x72” © 2011by Lili Bernard

The Sale of Venus, Oil on Canvas, 96”x72” © 2011by Lili Bernard

While Bernard plans to continue with “Antebellum Appropriations”– she has ideas for more than 20 more additions to the series — she has already begun work on a new series of more autobiographical pieces. “I’m working on this body of work that’s coming out of me, not with effort, but compulsively,” she says. “It’s born out of this trauma, of which I spoke, that I endured in my early 20s.”

After Bernard was attacked, she sought help. A couple years later, she believed that she was getting better. Bernard carried on with her life and moved to Los Angeles. She had six children and went back to school, earning an MFA at Otis College of Art and Design. Still, she suffered from night terrors and panic attacks. Eventually, she was overcome by the memories. Bernard likens it to Hurricane Katrina. “Hurricane Katrina came and broke the levy and all the water came flooding over New Orleans, which was once very functional,” she says. Bernard sought help.

“I’m healing,” she says. “I’ve been recovering, but what’s coming out is the art. I’ve been prolifically, compulsively creating a whole bunch of art as therapy.”

Bernard describes the urgency and therapeutic nature of her art, comparing her art-making tools to “tools on an operating table in the ER.” While art helps Bernard’s recovery, the graphic nature of the paintings captures the physical and emotional violence so often perpetrated against women. Bernard points to the woman at the center of “Carlota Slaying the Slaver,” which she started last summer and is ver close to competition. The woman appears to be ready to castrate the attacker, but her expression shows that she is unsure about what she should do. “There’s a war going on there,” says Bernard.

That challenge to bring an end to rape culture is imbued in much of Bernard’s work. “I used to spend so much time with my art addressing white privilege, but, now I’m really focusing on male privilege,” she says. “I’m fighting male privilege.”


Top Image: “Carlota Leading the People” by Lili Bernard

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